France, Ukraine feed aliyah increase

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Jewish immigration to Israel during the first quarter of 2014 increased by 50 percent over the same period last year, mainly due to arrivals from France and Ukraine.

In total, immigration to Israel under its Law of Return for Jews and their descendants during the first four months of 2014 increased by 50 percent over the first quarter of 2013, from 4,073 to 6,101, according to data compiled by the Jewish Agency for Israel.

Nearly all of the increase, or 93 percent of the difference, comes from Western Europe and Ukraine. Of the 2,652 new immigrants who immigrated to Israel from Western Europe in the first quarter of 2014, more than 80 percent were from France. From Ukraine, 1,107 Jews arrived in Israel between January and April. — jta